**Executive Summary**
This document is a response to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 192, addressed to the Minister of Women and Child Development, regarding the goal of a "Malnutrition Free India." It details the government's strategies, programs, and expenditure related to combating malnutrition, with a reference date of December 12, 2025. The response outlines various initiatives and monitoring efforts, with expenditure information up to November 24, 2025.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Government Goals and Strategies:**
* The government is pursuing a multi-sectoral approach under Mission Poshan 2.0 to address malnutrition, considering factors beyond mere food intake, such as sanitation and access to clean water.
* **National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013:**
* Provides free foodgrains to over 80 crore beneficiaries monthly.
* **Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0:**
* Provides supplementary nutrition to children under 6 years, pregnant women, lactating mothers (up to 6 months postpartum), and adolescent girls (14-18 years in Northeastern States and Aspirational Districts).
* **Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme:**
* Provides hot cooked and nutritious meals to children in Bal Vatika and classes I to VIII in government and government-aided schools, covering about 11 crore children in over 10.35 lakh schools.
* **Foodgrain Allocation:**
* Annual allocations include approximately 554 Lakh Ton (LT) foodgrain under NFSA, 22.31 LT under PM-Poshan, 23.05 LT under Wheat based Nutrition Programme, and 0.58 LT under Scheme for Adolescent Girls.
* **National Family Health Survey (NFHS):**
* Conducted regularly to monitor indicators related to fertility, infant and child mortality, family planning, maternal and child health, reproductive health, nutrition, anaemia, and the utilization of health services. NFHS rounds since 1992-93 show improvements in malnutrition indicators.
* Includes data on stunting, underweight, and wasting percentages from NFHS-1 to NFHS-5.
* **Monitoring and Tracking:**
* The Ministry monitors beneficiaries in Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) through the Poshan Tracker since 2021, focusing on stunting, wasting, and underweight prevalence.
* **Malnutrition Data Availability:**
* State, District and Year-wise data for malnourished children is available at https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics.
* **Causes of Infant Mortality:**
* Malnutrition is not identified as a direct cause of infant mortality in India. Major causes include Pneumonia, Birth asphyxia & birth trauma, Diarrhoeal diseases, Prematurity & low birth weight, and Congenital anomalies.
* **Expenditure on Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0:**
* Expenditure details for the period 2021-22 to November 24, 2025, are provided, broken down by year.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Children Under 6, Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers, Adolescent Girls**
* **Impact:** Beneficiaries of supplementary nutrition programs aimed at bridging the gap between Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and Average Daily Intake (ADI).
* **Action Required:** Participate in and benefit from the supplementary nutrition provided under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0.
**Stakeholder: Children in Government and Government-Aided Schools (Bal Vatika to Class VIII)**
* **Impact:** Beneficiaries of the PM POSHAN Scheme, which provides hot cooked and nutritious meals.
* **Action Required:** Avail of the meals provided under the PM POSHAN Scheme.
**Stakeholder: Department of Food and Public Distribution**
* **Impact:** Responsible for implementing the National Food Security Act 2013.
* **Action Required:** Continue providing free foodgrains to over 80 crore beneficiaries monthly.
**Stakeholder: Ministry of Women and Child Development**
* **Impact:** Implementing and monitoring various schemes and programs related to malnutrition.
* **Action Required:** Continue monitoring beneficiaries, implementing Mission Poshan 2.0 and Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, and collecting data on malnutrition.
Key Entities Referenced
Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0: A comprehensive and multi-sectoral strategy to address various forms of malnutrition.
National Food Security Act 2013: Provides free foodgrains to more than 80 crore beneficiaries every month.
Ministry of Women and Child Development: Providing supplementary nutrition to children and adolescent girls.
National Family Health Survey (NFHS): A representative sample of households throughout India which provides report on fertility, infant and child mortality, the practice of family planning, maternal and child health, reproductive health, nutrition, anaemia, utilization and quality of health and family planning services.
Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme: Provides hot cooked and nutritious meals to children in government and government-aided schools.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 192*
TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.12.2025
MALNUTRITION FREE INDIA
192*. SHRI DEVESH SHAKYA:
SHRI NEERAJ MAURYA:
Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:
(a) Whether the Government has set any target to make the country malnutrition-free, if
so, the details thereof;
(b) Whether the said targets have not been achieved till date, if so, the reasons therefor
particularly with regard to Aonla, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Budaun, Mainpuri, Kannauj,
Etah and Kasganj districts of Uttar Pradesh;
(c) the current number of malnourished children in the country during the last five years,
State-wise and year-wise;
(d) whether the Government has set any target to make the country malnutrition-free in line
with Goal-2 (Zero Hunger) of the Sustainable Development Goals, if so, the details
thereof;
(e) the details of child mortalities due to malnutrition during the last five years, State-wise
and year-wise; and
(f) the details of total expenditure incurred upon the schemes to prevent malnutrition
during the said period?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)
(a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
*****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION
NO.192* FOR REPLY ON 12.12.2025 ASKED BY SHRI DEVESH SHAKYA AND SHRI
NEERAJ MAURYA REGARDING ‘MALNUTRITION FREE INDIA’
(a) to (d): Nutrition goes beyond mere eating of food; it requires proper digestion, absorption,
and metabolism of nutrients. This process is influenced by factors like sanitation, education
and access to safe drinking water etc. and therefore, requires a multi-sectoral approach
involving these factors. Under Mission Poshan 2.0, a comprehensive and multi-sectoral
strategy has been adopted to address various forms of malnutrition, including wasting,
underweight and stunting.
Under National Food Security Act 2013 which is being implemented primarily by Department
of Food and Public Distribution, free foodgrains are provided to more than 80 crore
beneficiaries of the country every month.
Further, to address challenges of malnutrition, the Ministry of Women and Child Development
is providing supplementary nutrition to children under 6 years of age, pregnant women,
lactating mothers till 6 months after childbirth and adolescent girls (14-18 years of age in
Northeastern States and Aspirational Districts) in the country under Mission Saksham
Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. Supplementary Nutrition is being provided to bridge the gap
between the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and the Average Daily Intake (ADI).
Further, Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme is being implemented
in partnership with the States and UTs providing hot cooked and nutritious meal to all children
studying in Bal Vatika (just before class-I) and classes I to VIII of Government and
Government-aided schools. The Scheme covers about 11 crore children in more than 10.35
lakh schools in all the States/UTs.
An annual allocation of approximately 554 Lakh Ton (LT) foodgrain under NFSA, 22.31 LT
under PM-Poshan, 23.05 LT under Wheat based Nutrition Programme, 0.58 LT under Scheme
for Adolescent Girls is done by the Government of India.
National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is conducted in a representative sample of households
throughout India and provides report on fertility, infant and child mortality, the practice of
family planning, maternal and child health, reproductive health, nutrition, anaemia, utilization
and quality of health and family planning services.
Multiple rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by Ministry of
Health & Family Welfare since 1992-93 have shown improvement in malnutrition indicators
in children across India.
Details of these indicators from NFHS-1 to NFHS-5 are given below:NFHS Survey Stunting % Underweight % Wasting %
NFHS-1 (1992-93)* 52 53.4 17.5
NFHS-2 (1998-99)** 45.5 47 15.5
NFHS-3 (2005-6)*** 48.0 42.5 19.8
NFHS-4 (2015-16)*** 38.4 35.8 21.0
NFHS-5 (2019-21)*** 35.5 32.1 19.3
* Under 4 years
** Under 3 years
*** Under 5 years
Further, the Ministry is monitoring and tracking beneficiaries in Anganwadi Centres
(AWCs)on defined indicators through Poshan Tracker since 2021 including monitoring
prevalence of stunting, wasting, under-weight prevalence among children.
The details of malnourished children in the country, State, District and Year-wise, including in
Aonla, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Budaun, Mainpuri, Kannauj, Etah and Kasganj districts of Uttar
Pradesh is available at: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics
(e): As per the Cause of Death Report released by the Sample Registration System (SRS) of
the Registrar General of India (SRS-RGI) , malnutrition is not identified as a direct cause of
infant mortality in India.
According to the SRS- RGI report, the major causes of child deaths in India are Pneumonia
(16.3%), Birth asphyxia & birth trauma (9.8%), Diarrhoeal diseases (4.3%), Fever of unknown
origin (4%), Prematurity & low birth weight (30.7%), Congenital anomalies (5.8%), Other
Non-Communicable Diseases (8.4%), Injuries (4.2%), Sepsis (3.9%), Ill-defined or cause
unknown (9.8%) etc.
Details as available in the Report released by Office of the Registrar General of India at the
given link: https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/46176
(f): The details of total expenditure (Central Share) incurred under Mission Saksham
Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 from 2021-22 till 24.11.2025 are as below:
(Rupees in crore)
S. No. Year Funds released
1. 2021-22 18208.85
2. 2022-23 19476.48
3. 2023-24 21809.64
4. 2024-25 21014.02
5. 2025-26 (till 24.11.2025) 11683.02
*****